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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25072249">New Legends</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitkatt0430/pseuds/kitkatt0430'>kitkatt0430</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Rip Hunter Appreciation 2020 [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amnesia, Angst, Barry and Nate are friends, Grief/Mourning, Hartley joins the Legends, Hartley likes annoying Barry, He shows up in Central City, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, PTSD mentions, Past Hartley Rathaway/Eobard Thawne | Harrison Wells, Rip doesn't become Phil Gasmer, Suicidal Thoughts, Time Travel, alternate season 2, and Hartley looks after him, because it fits them so well, ignores flashpoint and Flash season 3, savitar arc just doesn't fit with this AU, with his memories scrambled</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-20 07:41:02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>11,940</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25072249</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitkatt0430/pseuds/kitkatt0430</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In some other universe, perhaps, Rip lands in the 1960s and forms a whole new identity.  But not this one.  Here he lands in Central City, his memories fractured and his identity uncertain.  Lucky for Rip, his arrival is noticed by one of Central City's more ambiguous vigilantes - the Pied Piper.</p><p>Appropriately, Hartley can hear the song 'It's Raining Men' playing in one of the nearby apartments when a rather handsome man appears in a flash of light in front of him.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hartley Rathaway/Rip Hunter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Rip Hunter Appreciation 2020 [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1808590</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>New Legends</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For Rip Hunter Appreciation Week prompt - Infinite Earths</p><p>Apparently I was more interested in the Hartley/Rip ship than I initially thought.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hartley tapped his fingers along the railing beneath his hands.  It was late and Hartley was starting to think his contact wasn't going to show up after all.  He was doing his best to keep an eye out for the guy... or, more accurately, Hartley was listening for his contact's arrival.  But at the same time he was trying to tune out at least three different movies, a rain synthesizer app, and somebody's 80s playlist.  The playlist was particularly difficult to tune out.</p><p>The 80s had a lot of really good bops.</p><p>Anyway, the chorus for "It's Raining Men" starts playing and Hartley's humming along because he really just can't help himself, when there's a flash of light just down the street.  A human silhouette appears in the darkness and then collapses.</p><p>Swearing softly under his breath, Hartley launches himself off the railing and lands neatly on his feet before sprinting down the street.  He doesn't care if his contact shows up anymore at this point.  He can get the information he needs to finalize his take down of Damian Winters some other time.  Hartley's not about to ignore someone clearly in distress.</p><p>The person on the ground is a man.  Long brown coat, honestly looks like a Malcolm Reynolds cosplayer.  Whoever he is, he's out cold.  Thankfully he still has a pulse and is breathing, Hartley can hear both even before he kneels down beside him.</p><p><em>It's raining men!  Hallelujah!</em> plays in the distance and Hartley can't help but snort softly in amusement.  Sometimes the universe really does have a sense of humor.</p><p>"Hey, handsome," Hartley gives the unconscious man's shoulder a light shake.  He doesn't seem injured, but Hartley doesn't want to exacerbate anything if he's wrong.  "Come, on wake up."</p><p>Handsome, unconscious man does not wake up, however.  He groans softly and turns away from the nearest light source.</p><p>Sighing softly in frustration, Hartley does the least invasive pat down he can mange while still checking for things like a wallet and potential weapons.  He comes up with no wallet, but five knives and a western style pistol that, after a cursory investigation, is clearly some kind of disguised laser gun, a la Firefly.  Malcolm Reynolds cosplayer indeed.</p><p>Hartley pockets the gun and knives, just in case, then tries to wake the guy again.  This time his eyes flutter open and he mutters something incoherent before passing back out.  Not that Hartley counts that as a real moment of consciousness.  </p><p>Rocking back on his heels, Hartley takes stock of the situation.  No ID but a laser gun.  Hartley's not keen on testing out the pistol in the middle of a street surrounded by apartment complexes, so he gives it the benefit of the doubt that its a working laser gun.  And given that Hartley didn't hear the man approach before he passed out, Hartley takes that to mean that he really did appear out of a flash of light.</p><p>This didn't really seem like a situation that called for a hospital, but the man probably did need medical treatment.  STAR Labs it was, then.</p><p>Hartley grimaced and then rolled his eyes.  He was on better terms with Caitlin these days and, depending on the time of day and alignment of the stars, he could be civil with Cisco.  Barry was a condescending asshole, but Hartley would admit it took one to know one.  So he pulled out his phone and dialed.  Thankfully it was Snow who answered.</p><p>"Hey, Caitlin," Hartley greeted.  "I've got a bit of a problem that's right up your alley.  Unconscious guy appeared in a flash of light.  No ID, but considering the futuristic tech I found on him I'm going to guess he's neither a local nor a meta.  Seems more like a job for STAR Labs than the John Cage Memorial Hospital."  Hartley tilted his head to the side, "mind sending a runner to pick him up?"</p><p>Caitlin snorted in amusement.  "Yes, Barry's on his way."  She paused, then added, "I'll need you to come in too, answer any questions we might have about what you saw."</p><p>"Yeah, sure.  My contact isn't gonna show anyway."  Hartley was still a little miffed about that.  On principle.</p>
<hr/><p>He wakes slowly, head feeling disconnected.  Floaty.  He's not really sure any of this is real.</p><p>It takes him a while to open his eyes and look around.  Blinking as the world slowly floats into focus.  He should probably be concerned, but he's not.  He doesn't think he feels much of anything.</p><p>Sitting up garners him the attention of someone else, however, and it takes him a moment to focus enough to register who they are.  A woman with long brown hair and concern in her voice as she says something.  He's having trouble processing speech, though.  He shakes his head and presses his hands to his face, trying to focus on her words by blocking out his sight.</p><p>It seems to work.</p><p>"I'm sorry," he says, and his voice sounds different from hers.  His pronunciation of words isn't the same.  It takes his brain a moment to find the right word.  His accent is different.  "I'm having trouble focusing on anything.  Could you repeat that?"</p><p>"Of course," she tells him.  "I'm Doctor Snow.  You were found collapsed out on the street by a friend of mine and brought here to STAR Labs for me to look after.  Can you remember how you got there?"</p><p>It's all a blank.  He shakes his head.  "I can't remember."</p><p>"You don't have any ID on you," she says.  "Can you tell me your name?"</p><p>Oh.  Oh no.  He looks up at her, panic on his face - the first emotion to register since waking up.  "I can't remember," he repeats.  "I don't know who I am."</p>
<hr/><p>"It really is a laser gun," Cisco announced cheerfully as they walked into the Cortex to check on Caitlin and her handsome patient.</p><p>"Oh no, what did you two do?" Caitlin demanded.</p><p>Hartley rocked back on his heels and smirked.  "There might be carbon scoring in the parking garage where there wasn't before."  He snickered when she rolled her eyes at him.  "Ah, looks like sleeping beauty is awake," Hartley added, nodding to the man sitting up in Caitlin's infirmary.  "Who is he?"</p><p>"He doesn't know," Caitlin responded.  "Amnesia.  Hopefully temporary, caused by whatever means of travel brought him here in the first place.  But until then," she shook her head.</p><p>"Well... we might have another way to identify him," Barry spoke up.  "We could activate Gideon and have her scan him.  She has a lot of information on the future, so she might hold data regarding his identity."</p><p>"It's worth a try," Cisco agreed.</p><p>"So then we'll ask him," Hartley interrupted before they could get too far, "if he's okay with being scanned by your AI.  He's probably pretty freaked out, right Caitlin?"</p><p>"Yeah, he is.  And if he says no, we shouldn't push," Caitlin said, reinforcing Hartley's subtle point about respecting their guest's boundaries.  "I don't think it'd be a good idea to overwhelm him right now.  We can always ask again later, when he's less... in shock."</p><p>Slipping around Caitlin, Hartley bounded over to the entrance to the infirmary.  "It's good to see you're awake now.  I was getting pretty concerned.  I'm Hartley Rathaway.  I'm the one who found you."</p><p>"I'm sorry, I'm... I'm kind of having difficulty focusing on what you're saying," the other man responded, looking a little lost.  His accent sounded like it might be British Received Pronunciation, or just RP for short.  Hartley wasn't familiar enough with the various English accents to be sure (though at least he knew better than to call Scottish, Irish, and Welsh accents 'English') but it probably wasn't a bad guess on his part.</p><p>"Do you know ASL?" Hartley asked slowly, signing along as he spoke out loud.  "Or lip reading?"</p><p>A smile had formed on the man's face, though.  "Oh, yes.  I do know ASL.  And BSL too, I think."  He also signed along in ASL.</p><p>"I only know the first," Hartley replied.  "My name is Hartley.  I'm the one who found you."</p><p>"I don't remember my name."  He frowned, deeply.  "Why do I still know ASL if I can't remember my name?"</p><p>"Amnesia is weird," Hartley told him.  "Basically, the brain stores learned skills differently from regular memories.  Though you probably do remember your name, you just haven't had the right trigger yet."  Hartley wondered if they asked him to sign something while his mind was on something else if he'd just scribble out his name in semi-legible cursive.  "Though we do have an alternative solution."  He explained Gideon carefully.  Hartley's vocabulary in ASL for artificial intelligence and time travel wasn't exactly... large.  And just because he knew a sign for something didn't mean his new friend would know that sign too.</p><p>But he got the gist of what Barry had suggested regarding Gideon across fairly well.  Enough that the man nodded emphatically.  "I'd like to try.  You know... there's something familiar about that name.  Gideon..." he smiled, faintly, "wouldn't it be funny if that were my name?"</p>
<hr/><p>His name is not Gideon.  It's Rip Hunter, formerly known as Michael - no known surname.  He was born in the future, a Time Master at one point and more recently Captain of a crew of misfits called the Legends, who were dedicated to maintaining the integrity of humanity's timeline.</p><p>It's a lot to take in and he's glad he waited until the morning in order to sleep first because he's pretty sure he'd have shut down in the face of Gideon's onslaught of information otherwise.  He isn't sure which name to use, though.  Rip or Michael.</p><p>It doesn't really help that while there's something familiar about Gideon, he's convinced there's something wrong with her voice.  He doesn't speak up about that, though.  He's not ready to start volunteering information yet.</p><p>He wants his knives back.  He feels naked without them, checking the discrete sheathes on his body over and over again and feeling uncomfortable every time his fingers fail to brush the hilts.</p><p>"Do you remember anything more now?" Hartley asked quietly, hands still signing along with his speech.</p><p>Though his hearing has largely returned to normal by now, Rip - Michael? - hasn't asked Hartley to stop signing, nor stopped signing along with his own speech either.  There's something comforting about the visual reminder that if his mind returns to that scattered state from earlier there's someone around who could still communicate with him easily.</p><p>Michael - Rip? - shook his head.  "Nothing.  Thank you, Gideon.  Is it alright if I return later should I have questions for you?"</p><p>"Of course, Captain Hunter," Gideon responded, shutting off her interface afterwards.</p><p>"It'll take us a while, but we have ways to contact the Legends, if you want?" Barry offered.</p><p>Rip - ? - shook his head.  "I appreciate the offer, Mr. Allen, but I... I'm not ready for that quite yet.  I don't remember any of... my life.  I need some time to... to figure out who I am now before I..." ask someone else for their definition of who he was.  He had a name - names, really - and the barest of biographies and the promise of answers should he have questions.  And it already feels like too much.  So... no Legends.  Not yet.</p><p>Rip's fingers brushed against the empty sheaths yet again and he wondered what kind of person he was that he felt so naked when disarmed.</p><p>"Come on.  I took a few toys off you just in case last night, but I think its time you got them back."  Hartley's tone, and gaze, seemed rather knowing.</p><p>"I would greatly appreciate that," Rip responded gratefully.</p>
<hr/><p>Prying Rip out of Caitlin's clutches was a job and a half, but Hartley got permission to take Rip out in time for lunch.  It helped that the other man was clearly eager to get out of STAR Labs.</p><p>They ended up at Hartley's favorite burger joint.  Not Big Belly Burger, which paled in comparison to this little hole in the wall: Liv's Burgers.  Better still, it wasn't nearly as busy as Big Bellys always was, meaning that Rip could acclimatize himself to the world at large more slowly.</p><p>The two of them ended up at a corner table where Rip could sit with his back to the wall, clear view of all the exits.  Hartley suspected PTSD might be at play there.  Just because Rip's memories were inaccessible didn't mean the trauma he'd suffered as a Time Master or as a Legend were gone, after all.  And it was easy to recognize because Hartley often put his own back to the wall with a clear view of the exits. </p><p>Hartley had been... ambushed by Harrison... EoWells, after the Reverse Flash's identity came out.  They'd been lovers before Hartley learned about the accelerator's flaws and, with the truth of Eobard Thawne's identity laid bare, the asshole had thought that meant he could pick things back up with Hartley whenever he felt like it.  This was despite the fact that Hartley had at one point intended to kill his protege, because what was a little murder between lovers?  Hartley had said no despite the clear threat of a vibrating hand through his chest and was eventually left having a panic attack in what used to be his favorite Thai restaurant.  Over a year later and Hartley still couldn't set foot in that restaurant and Thai was, unfortunately, no longer his go-to comfort food.</p><p>"How's your hearing?" Hartley asked as they sat down with their menus.  "Do you want me to keep signing?"</p><p>Rip pursed his lips absently as he thought, his tongue darting out to wet those very lips a moment later.  Very distracting, especially as Hartley could hear the slick slide of tongue against skin.  The man was very unfairly attractive.</p><p>"My auditory processing issues seem to have abated," Rip finally said, dropping his own use of ASL.  "But I very much appreciate your usage of it."</p><p>"Yes, well, I spent most of my life hard of hearing and the last few years with enhanced hearing that is most definitely not a preferable condition.  So its always a delight for me to meet someone else who knows ASL."  Because that person was more likely to be someone Hartley could relax around.  Someone he could shut off his hearing aids and still be around, still easily communicate with.  Still feel safe with.</p><p>Rip smiled and Hartley liked the way it lit up his face.</p><p>"So, I've been meaning to ask, are you comfortable going by Rip or is there another name you prefer?" Hartley wanted to make sure he didn't get into the habit of using a name the other man didn't actually like.</p><p>"Rip seems to be the name I'm using for myself in my own thoughts," he admitted.  "I feel rather indifferent to Michael, but Rip feels... comfortable somehow."</p><p>"So definitely not a Mike, then?" Hartley asked, just to see how Rip would react.  The full face grimace has Hartley laughing in amusement.  "Well, it's good to see you've got some definite opinions on your name, Rip."</p><p>The other man chuckled softly and smiled.  But after a moment, a frown stole across his lovely face.  "Whatever brought me here... the situation must have been dire for me to have used it.  I must've known what the side effects would be."</p><p>"Memory or impression?"  Hartley was guessing the latter.</p><p>"Impression," Rip confirmed.  "It could have been something done to me, but... I just feel like I did this.  Like I had no other choice."</p><p>Hartley nodded, but then the waitress was coming by for their drink orders and their conversation subsided into easier topics.  Rip was curious about Hartley and had all kinds of questions.  And Hartley was happy enough to answer, deflecting politely when the question wasn't one he was interested in answering.  Like anything to do with his parents.  His admission that he was something of a thief and vigilante had Rip's eyes sparking with interest and so Hartley told him about his current target.</p><p>"Damian Winters ostensibly runs a charity for at risk LGBT minors.  But ever since he took over the board, he's been embezzling funds that should be going to youth shelters.  But I'm missing some key information to prove his activities.  Without that, I've got nothing to pass on to the police or the FBI except for suspicions.  Last night, I was supposed to meet a contact within the organization, but he never showed.  Got cold feet, maybe.  I was going to check on him later today to make sure nothing untoward happened to him, before going after the information myself.  Less legal that way, but I might have a chance to... liberate some of the missing funds, as it were."</p><p>Rip grinned.  "I don't suppose you'd want a partner for this endeavor?  I suspect I'd be quite useful to you."</p><p>And, well, Hartley isn't going to turn down backup from a handsome man with a laser gun, now is he?</p>
<hr/><p>Hartley tells Caitlin that Rip will be crashing in his guest room that evening.  Hartley does not tell her that Rip will also be tagging along on Hartley's more... illicit activities too.  What she doesn't know won't have Barry showing up for another condescending conversation about what is and isn't an acceptable form of breaking the law.  (Barry was mostly fine with Hartley's activities, but there were some things he did that were apparently fine for Oliver Queen to do but god forbid Hartley do the same.)</p><p>He likes Barry, mostly, but wow is the guy such an amazingly oblivious hypocrite sometimes.  He gets it from his foster father, though at least both Barry and Joe have mellowed considerably since Hartley chewed them out about illegal prisons, inhumane forms of incarceration, and a detailed explanation about what constitutes a war crime.  Sometimes he'll allude back to that conversation just to shut them up for a little while.  It's a guaranteed checkmate, but Hartley doesn't want to wear out his 'get-out-of-lectures' free card by playing it too often.</p><p>The contact Hartley had intended to meet the night before was a man named James Goren.  He'd been with the charity for years and Hartley'd actually met him a few times previously when they both volunteered at Freespace.  Much like Hartley, LGBT charities were of particular interest to James because he was queer himself.  As far as Hartley knew, it was out of character for James to miss meeting with him, but he didn't actually know where James lived.  So he'd spent the morning and part of the afternoon tracking down James' address.  He'd also asked Barry to see if James had been mugged or otherwise accosted in some way, but there were no police records.  Hopefully a good sign that James was at least physically okay.</p><p>So the first stop of the evening, after picking up dinner, was James Goren's apartment.  It was easy enough to get buzzed inside as two friends of James' who were surprising him with dinner to cheer him up after a difficult week at work.  They even brought a wine bottle along to really sell the con.  A concerned neighbor was happy enough to let them inside and they headed up to James' apartment with no impediments.  </p><p>And then they knocked on his door.  No answer.  Doorbell.  No answer.</p><p>Hartley could hear someone breathing inside, though.  Panicked heart rate.</p><p>"James," Hartley called loudly.  "It's Hartley.  Thought I'd surprise you with dinner.  Just knew you had a rough week and I thought maybe I could cheer you up.  If you'd rather be alone, though, I can head out.  Oh, I've got Rip with me.  New boyfriend, you haven't met him yet.  I hope you don't mind my bringing him along, but I thought it was time to start introducing him around to my friends."</p><p>Rip, thankfully, didn't seem to mind playing the part of Hartley's boyfriend now.  An amused smile quirked his lips and he mock fluttered his eyes at Hartley.</p><p>The panicked heartbeat on the other side of the door settled just a little bit and came closer.  There was a click in the lock and then the door snicked open.  The chain was still in place, though, and James peered out at Hartley.  "I'm sorry, it's really not a good time..."</p><p>Now Hartley can't out and out ask in the hallway if maybe he should be calling the Flash to take James into protection.  Nor should he outright ask if someone James cares about is being threatened.  But Hartley's sneaky and good at being subtle when the situation calls for it.  He's made it this far with dinner, wine, and his 'boyfriend', after all.</p><p>"Would you rather I have our friend run by later to check up on you?  Thought I caught sight of that ridiculous red jacket of his earlier, so he can probably drop by pretty easily."</p><p>James sucks in a sharp breath as what Hartley's offering clicks.  "Give me a second.  Might as well not let that food go to waste."  The door shut and Hartley heard the chain being unlatched before the door reopened and they were quickly ushered inside.</p><p>Once the door shuts behind them, Hartley takes a moment to listen for microphones or electronics.  He doesn't hear anything that sounds like a bug, but that doesn't necessarily mean there isn't anything.  Probably no microphones, but cameras can't be ruled out entirely.  </p><p>"Can you really contact the Flash?" James demands.</p><p>Hartley nodded.  "I do, in fact, have him on speed dial.  James, what happened last night?"</p><p>"They took... they took Ally.  My daughter.  I've got joint custody of her.  My ex and I split up after I came out as trans, but it was an amicable split.  And... and I guess that's not really relevant.  Aaron called me last night because someone took Ally from his house.  They... they threatened to hurt her if we went to the police.  It has to be because they're on to me as the information leak."  James' hands were shaking.  "Please.  If you can really contact the Flash, then..."</p><p>Well, it'd be worth a lecture to save James' daughter.  Hartley texted Barry his location and the words "need the Flash here now" and then put his phone away.  It buzzed in his back pocket with the return text, but Hartley didn't bother to check it.  Moments later there was a flash of electricity from one of the windows and Barry was just there, decked out in his suit.</p><p>James started crying, which left it up to Hartley and Rip to explain the situation.  Honestly, Hartley was sure he'd be crying too in James' situation.</p><p>Rip had a distant look on his face, but he shook his head when Hartley glanced at him inquiringly.  Hopefully that meant whatever was bugging Rip would keep until later.</p><p>Barry flashed off to get more information from James' ex and, hopefully, track down Ally's location.  Meanwhile, Hartley had a few ideas about that himself.</p>
<hr/><p>Rip had a son.  He remembered that now.  And grief, but from a distance.  He rather suspected he was still a little... dissociative regarding his memories.  Something that would pass as more memories returned.</p><p>Not that Rip was looking forward to what were likely some intense feelings of loss and grief, but... he didn't want to feel distanced from those memories either.  He'd already lost his son, that much Rip was certain of.  He didn't want to lose his memories or feelings for his son too.</p><p>But for now it was best to set his concerns aside.  Someone else's child was at risk.</p><p>Rip followed Hartley's lead, staying with James until he calmed down and they all ate.  Barry came back, still in the guise of his alter ego, and discussed options discreetly with Hartley while Rip kept the distraught father relatively calm.  And then they were all leaving.  James was to go to his ex husband's place to wait.  The rest of them were to check out a handful of locations most likely to have a kidnapped little girl hidden away inside.</p><p>"Are you sure you're up to this?" Allen asked.</p><p>Rip nodded.  "I'll be fine.  I'm more concerned about this little girl," he assured the Flash, who nodded, gave Hartley a sharp look, and then was off.  "He's not exactly trusting of you, is he?" Rip asked.</p><p>"In his defense, I did try to kill him once.  Obviously we're on better terms now, but..." Hartley shrugged.  "I was in a really bad place at the time and it's not something I'm proud of."</p><p>"Ah..." Rip really doesn't know what to say to that, so he changes the subject.  "Which warehouse are we checking first?"</p><p>Hartley leads the way, weaving between buildings.  "If my hearing picks up on something, we'll go in for a closer look.  But so far, I don't hear any..." he trailed off.  Tilted his head to the side.  "This way.  I think I hear crying."  Hartley took off at a run, hesitating for a moment between buildings before picking one path over another.</p><p>In the back of Rip's thoughts he's already cataloging their route in case they need a quick escape.  They halt in front of a nondescript little building between warehouses, more storage shed than warehouse of its own.  Hartley texted Barry again, summoning him back from wherever he'd been searching.  </p><p>"I checked the building on the way over and I don't think I'll be able to get to Ally without a diversion," Barry told them.</p><p>"We can handle that," Rip assured him at the same time as Hartley.  They exchanged a glance and it felt good to be on the same wavelength as the other man.  </p><p>Hartley pulled some interesting looking gloves out of his bag, ornate looking tech crawling up the sides.  It looked almost like the keys on certain woodwind instruments, like a clarinet or flute.  And it glowed green when Hartley finished putting them on and rolled his fingers just so.  "They're sonic based weapons," Hartley told him.  "The glove design gives me better directional control and an easy way to quickly adjust frequencies."  </p><p>Rip nodded, pulling out his gun and flipping off the safety.  He kept it set to stun, but otherwise was ready to go.  "Where are they located within the room?"</p><p>"Two near the door and one in the back beside Ally," Barry replied.</p><p>Rip and Hartley approached the doors.  "Give us a head start then head straight for the kid.  Get her out of here before you worry about us," Hartley told Barry, the speedster nodding in agreement.</p><p>They kicked the door open, weapons immediately pointing and firing.  Rip's gun missed the first shot, but not the second, stunning the first of the three kidnappers, while Hartley's sonic tech sent the another flying into a wall where he collapsed unconscious.  There was an electric blur that spun past the man in the back going for his gun and the little girl disappeared while Rip shot the third man, stunning him as well.  Neither Rip nor Hartley dared let down their guard.</p><p>"I don't hear anyone else," Hartley told Rip.  "So we should be fine.  Sounds like Barry called Joe, I can hear the police are on their way.  We probably don't want to be here when they arrive."</p><p>Rip wasn't exactly sure who Joe was, but no doubt he was a police officer.  They were headed back outside when Barry arrived and returned them to Hartley's car at James' apartment parking lot.</p><p>"I'll let Joe know what happened," Barry said, while Hartley put away his bag and gloves in the trunk of his car.  "If we can tie Winters to the kidnapping, that'll be another strike against him.  And I'll talk to James Goren about coming forward with what he knows about the embezzlement, instead of working anonymously through you as he'd originally intended."  He gave Hartley a knowing look and added, "Winters will be under intense police scrutiny, Hartley.  Don't go barging into his place trying to find the missing money, or you might get arrested too."</p><p>Hartley smiled, an innocent expression that fooled no one.  "Of course," he promised. </p><p>Rip rather looked forward to helping break that promise.</p>
<hr/><p>"Obviously," Hartley said once they were back in his car, "I will not be giving up on the embezzled funds."</p><p>"Of course not.  Where are we headed to next?"</p><p>Oh, Hartley really liked having Rip around.  Someone who actually got him.  It'd be way too easy to get used to having him around.</p><p>"Best time to go after Winters is right now, so we'll be headed to his main office.  I've got reason to believe some of the funds can be found as laundered cash in his safe.  So we'll be... liberating some of that.  Not all of it, but enough that it looks like he went on a spending spree he can't account for.  Maybe make sure any records of his money laundering don't go mysteriously missing before the police can get their hands on it."  Hartley put the car in gear and headed for a safe house he kept not too far away from the office.  It was a 250 square foot tiny home in a trailer park most people didn't even realize was in that part of town.  Hartley tended to move the tiny home around, as having a mobile safe house was rather ideal and easy enough to disguise quickly.  It'd be a cozy place for them to spend the evening going over the loot from their theft, but Hartley doubted Rip would mind too much.</p><p>The walk from the trailer park to the charity office and easy enough for Hartley to hack in from outside to disable their CCTV system.  "We've got a fifteen minute window before the system reboots," Hartley warned, before they sneaked into the building.  The safe was all too easy for Hartley to crack with his enhanced hearing while Rip rifled through the filing cabinets and desk for incriminating documents.  But pretty much everything they were looking for was in the safe and they were out with the money and document copies well within the time limit.  All Hartley had to do now was send in the documents and hand off the money to one of his preferred LGBT friendly charities.  Which, admittedly, this used to be one of them, but... when in doubt he usually defaulted back to Freespace.</p><p>One circuitous walk back to the trailer park and Hartley stowed away their findings in a handy hidden cabinet in the wall and then offered to make a late night snack.  After all their hard work, Hartley was starving and, after a bit of cajoling, Rip admitted to being a bit peckish too.  </p><p>The tiny home wasn't exactly well stocked, though it had plenty of tea and breakfast foods and popcorn.  So Hartley retrieved some of the iced tea he'd brewed himself after moving the tiny home to this particular trailer park a few days earlier and popped some popcorn.  They watched a Netflix show on the laptop Hartley kept in the house until the popcorn ran out and the iced tea ran dry.  And then Hartley led Rip up to the loft where they fell asleep under the skylight.</p>
<hr/><p>Rip's head thudded against something when he tried to sit up, only to remember too late he wasn't in the Waverider.  He was in Hartley Rathaway's tiny little safe house.  He'd helped steal documents, and money, the night before from a man who'd been embezzling funds from a charity.</p><p>Funny, how easily being a thief still came to him, after all these years.  But then... arguably, theft had been a significant percentage of Rip's job as a Time Master.  Miranda always said...</p><p>Miranda.  Jonas.  How could he forget...</p><p>"Rip... are you crying?" Hartley's voice was slurred with sleep.  "Did you hit your head that hard or...?"</p><p>"I remembered my wife and son," Rip said quietly.  "I remembered how they died..."</p><p>"Lay back down," Hartley told him and Rip complied.</p><p>How could he forget his wife and son?  How could he forget their murders?  He should have died in their place... should have died instead of them... he should have died rather than live without them...</p><p>Arms closed loosely around Rip's shoulders and then Hartley tucked Rip gently against his chest.  "I'm so sorry for your loss," he murmured softly, rubbing circles against Rip's back.  </p><p>"They're dead," Rip sobbed.  "I should have died with them."</p><p>"Would they have wanted you to die?" Hartley's question, under any other circumstances, probably wouldn't have helped at all.  But here, in this moment, it broke past Rip's defenses and he sobbed again.</p><p>"No... no, they wouldn't have."</p><p>"They loved you and they'd have wanted you to live.  It's always harder to be the one who lives while others die.  So promise me something, Rip."  Hartley continued to rub Rip's back slowly as he spoke.  "Find something to live for.  It doesn't have to be for yourself yet.  You'll get there eventually, as long as you can find a reason to keep going for now."</p><p>His crew.  Rip remembered them hazily now.  His crew was scattered across time and he had to save them.  And Rip knew the general location of at least two of them.  Mick... and Gideon.</p><p>Something to live for... when had they become that for him?</p><p>Eyes closed, Rip drifted back to sleep.</p>
<hr/><p>Well... that freaked him out a little.</p><p>Hartley sighed softly, kept rubbing Rip's back even though he was fairly certain based on Rip's breathing and heart rate that the man had fallen asleep again.</p><p>Rip's memories were coming back and had apparently triggered a panic attack, which Hartley was familiar enough with from having more than his own fair share of them over the years.  But... never actually had to comfort someone else through one.  Hartley's own heart felt like it was beating a mile a minute in his chest and he breathed slowly to calm himself back down.</p><p>He couldn't even begin to imagine the trauma of loosing a spouse and child, never mind having to relive it as his memories trickled back in from amnesia.</p><p>Hartley probably shouldn't have brought Rip with him last night.  Though perhaps it was James' situation with his daughter that had kickstarted Rip's memories?</p><p>What was done was done.  No going back now, and Rip had asked.</p><p>Carefully, Hartley disentangled himself from the other man and slithered down the ladder from the loft.  He pulled out his cell phone and put the battery back in so he could boot it up and call STAR Labs.</p><p>Barry answered.  "You ignored me last night, didn't you?"</p><p>"When an anonymous source can give the cops a copy of the guy's dirty paperwork straight from the charity's own offices, you'll be glad I did," Hartley replied dryly.  "How's the kid and her dads?"</p><p>"Apparently the Gorens are going to give their relationship another go and they took my advice about letting Ally set her boundaries regarding any therapists they send her too."  Barry sounded pleased.</p><p>Well, good for James.  Hartley hadn't known much about his ex, just that James still wasn't over his husband.  Hopefully it'd work out for them this time.</p><p>"How's Rip?" Barry asked.</p><p>"He remembered his wife and son when he woke up.  His dead wife and son."  Hartley sighed and dropped onto the little settee he had crammed into the tiny space and pulled the laptop out from underneath it.  "I calmed him down and sent him back to sleep.  We'll come by STAR Labs once he wakes up again."</p><p>"Good.  Caitlin wants to look him over.  And she's pissed at you, so be careful."</p><p>"Of course she is.  How're the kidnappers holding up in jail?"  Hartley shifted the subject back to the previous night's shenanigans.</p><p>"They rolled on Winters.  We've got him in custody.  And James is giving evidence on Winters embezzlement, so they'll be executing a warrant on the charity offices as soon as the ink dries this afternoon."  Barry paused a beat, then said, "I'll let you know if we need those anonymous copies you made."</p><p>"In case someone else does the shredding for him," Hartley responded with a laugh.</p><p>"Something like that.  Hey... with Rip.  Be careful, okay?"</p><p>"I won't let anything happen to him," Hartley said, rolling his eyes.  </p><p>Barry made a frustrated sound.  "Not what I meant.  Just... be careful so you don't get hurt.  I know we're not... we're never going to be close friends or whatever, but I don't want to see you get hurt, okay?"</p><p>"Oh."  Genuine surprise thrummed through Hartley and he nodded numbly.  Then remembered Barry couldn't exactly see him through the phone.  "Yeah, sure.  I'll be careful."</p><p>Relief colored Barry's voice as he ended their conversation and left Hartley blinking uncertainly at the phone.  They hadn't been close before Barry time traveled months earlier, shortly before Zoom's final defeat.  And afterwards, Barry couldn't remember the headway they'd made towards being friends.  And Hartley had let it go, regretful, but the Barry who came back was to suspicious and wary of him for Hartley think he'd be able to earn Barry's trust well enough to even begin starting that friendship over.  They'd forged what Hartley hoped was a sort of mutual respect and staying out of each other's way in its place.</p><p>But, maybe, that was exactly what he'd needed to do in order to get his fresh start with this version of Barry after all.  Something to ponder over, anyway.</p><p>Hartley sighed and his stomach grumbled at him.  Time for some powdered donuts and milk, Hartley decided.  And then to check on Rip.</p>
<hr/><p>Waking up for the second time that morning was decidedly less traumatic.</p><p>And there were donuts.  </p><p>Rip is a little embarrassed by how he reacted, but... he never really let himself grieve before.  He'd thrown himself into trying to kill Vandal Savage himself and when that failed he'd sought permission to form an elite team to kill the bastard... and when that failed he put the Legends together.  And despite tearing the Time Masters apart and finally killing Savage... it still hadn't brought him his wife and child back.  So he'd thrown himself in to the work the Legends were doing, doing his best to repress his feelings over losing Miranda and Jonas and destroying the only family he'd ever known.</p><p>He'd been contacted by a few of his fellow former Time Masters.  All to tell him to leave them the fuck alone.  They wanted nothing to do with him.  Many were settling down and leaving Time Travel behind them.  Their ships to be shut down and never used again.</p><p>Such a waste.</p><p>But the truth was that the Legends were effectively burning the candle at both ends trying to keep up with the aberrations they'd been encountering.  One team trying to do the work of an entire organization.  Rip wasn't sure what to do about it yet, particularly since he couldn't count on any former Time Masters to step up and help him.  The Legends, at least, might be a place to start rebuilding from, but... he didn't even have his team now.  Scattered to the winds of time to save their lives.  But that also meant that Rip didn't know where to find them.</p><p>Most of them, anyway.  Rip knew the approximate location of where the Waverider went down and Gideon's repairs would have completed by now.  Mick would've been healed and then automatically placed into stasis and while Mick might not have appreciated Rip leaving him to drift in there, it had been something of a blessing that Mick was the one who'd been left aboard the ship.  After Rip, Mick was the only one who knew how to maintain and pilot a time craft on his own, should someone else wake him.  If Gideon weren't fully repaired, but Mick was brought out of stasis early, he'd still be able to move the ship to safety.  Jax's lessons hadn't gone far enough in that direction and it was safest not to part him from Martin, besides.  </p><p>Rip regretted not insisting the whole team take lessons too, but... it was what it was now.</p><p>The question now was... how would Rip verify the location of the Waverider and reach it?</p><p>He was still pondering this question when he arrived at STAR Labs with Hartley and meekly submitted to Dr. Snow's check up.  This is, after all, the woman who will one day not only share her body with the snarky hero Frost, but hold her own as her alter ego's equal.  She's a little intimidating.</p><p>"I'm glad your memories are returning," Caitlin tells him, sincerely.  </p><p>He returned her smile gladly.  "Thank you.  I really do need to consult with Gideon now, however.  The last thing I remember before arriving here at STAR Labs was using the emergency shifts to send the majority of the crew to safety and setting up Mr. Rory in stasis due to his injuries.  There wasn't enough time or power left to shift myself the same way I did the rest of the crew and I had to resort to a rather more... dangerous means of travel before the nuclear missile we were diverting exploded, radiating the ship.  While Mick should be safe in stasis, the rest of the crew could be... anywhere and anywhen.  This attack happened in the 1940s and, had we been unsuccessful... Nazis would have won World War Two."</p><p>Cisco shuddered.  "Thanks for putting your lives on line.  I definitely don't want to live on a Nazi version of Earth; we've got enough of them still around as it is."</p><p>"If there's anything else we can do to help, just ask," Barry offered.  "Um... but if you don't mind me asking... how's Snart been?"</p><p>"You don't... I'm sorry.  I should have realized you didn't know."  Rip closed his eyes and took a steadying breath.  In some ways, he still felt very guilty about Leonard Snart's death.  "He sacrificed himself to destroy the Oculus and bring down the Time Masters."</p><p>"Oh..." Barry went very pale and nodded.  Rip couldn't help but wonder what Leonard Snart had meant to his rival.  Something more than just another villain, it seemed. </p>
<hr/><p>Hartley felt a bit like the odd man out and he wasn't sure whether he should stick around in the Cortex, follow along with Rip to consult Gideon, or to just... head home.</p><p>He liked Rip, more than he should.  Especially since it seemed Rip wasn't exactly in a good place for starting a new relationship.  Hartley should probably go home, play some video games, and then figure out what to do about the money hidden in his tiny house.  And probably look into moving the tiny house back into storage somewhere... maybe it was time to ask about hiding it in the STAR Labs garage for a little while?  It's not like anyone would ever check for it there...</p><p>Despite his brain telling him that going home was the smart plan, Hartley followed Rip to Gideon's vault and lounged against the back wall while Rip availed himself to Gideon's systems to pinpoint the current location of the Waverider on the bottom of the ocean, off the coast of New York.  Gideon was even able to print off a map for them in one of the nearby labs, which Rip politely thanked her for before shutting off the interface again.</p><p>It occurs to Hartley that Harrison would have spent a lot of time in this vault, perfecting his schemes against Barry and blithely writing off the rest of them as collateral damage.  He shivers minutely and is ever so glad to leave with Rip.  </p><p>One day Hartley might forgive himself for falling for Harrison's lies.  Apparently that day is not today.</p><p>Rip retrieves the map and then they head back to the Cortex.  There's a phone ringing right as they come around the curve that bring's the Cortex's open doorway into view and Hartley hears Barry answer.</p><p>"Hey Barry, thank you for answering, I really need your help with something," came an unfamiliar voice from what was, presumably, Barry's phone.</p><p>"Sure Nate, what's up?  Are you coming back to Central?"</p><p>"No, I'm in Star City trying to get just, like, five minutes with the Mayor.  Who I hear is actually a friend of yours?"</p><p>"Nate, why are you trying to get in to see Oliver?"  Barry sounded amused.  "This isn't about your Oliver Queen is the Arrow theory again?  Because we've debunked that one two or three times already."</p><p>"Look, we know the Arrow isn't working alone and... you know what, don't distract me."  Hartley can practically hear the pout in Nate's voice as he and Rip walk into the room.  "Barry.  Bar.  Please.  I'm right this time.  I know I am.  Just, hear me out and if you think I've gone down the well of conspiracy theories then you can just hang up on me and I'll give up.  But I swear, I'm really on to something this time."</p><p>"Okay, fine, but if this turns out like that one time we went looking for Wonder Woman and found the journalist Diana Prince instead - for which Iris still hasn't forgiven me for since we didn't bring her along..."</p><p>"It won't, it won't, I swear."</p><p>Barry sighed.  "I'll head over on a train to Star city tonight and meet you at your hotel.  Where are you staying?  I'll see if I can book a room.  You can show me what you've got when I get there."  A few moments later, he ended the phone call.</p><p>"Would now be a bad time to tell you that Diana Prince is Wonder Woman?" Rip looked amused as Barry nearly dropped his phone and had to slip into the speed force to catch it in time.</p><p>"No.  Way."  Barry looked wide eyed with delight.</p><p>"Yes, she is," Rip assured him.  "You've actually met Wonder Woman." </p><p>"Holy shit, she was so amazing in person..."</p><p>Cisco cut off Barry with, "that's awesome and I will definitely be grilling you for details later, but what I want to know is," and then Caitlin chimed in to speak along with him, "who is Nate?"</p><p>"So if I were to guess Superman's identity, would you..." Hartley raised an eyebrow.</p><p>"Imagine him with glasses," Rip offered.</p><p>"Nate's a friend I made through my old blog.  I haven't really kept up with it since the coma, but Nate and I have stayed in touch.  He's more into historical weird events, like proving the existence of Wonder Woman or the Justice Society of America was real."  Barry shrugged, "his grandfather was Commander Steel and it's kind of a big deal with Nate to prove that JSA was real and not a publicity stunt because so many people treat his grandfather's memory like it's a joke."</p><p>"The JSA was actually quite real.  I wouldn't mind going along to meet this friend of yours, actually.  It'd be an honor to meet Commander Steel's grandson and, well... I must admit, I could use the help of your friend Mr. Queen's as well."  Rip handed Barry the map Gideon had printed.  "I believe the Waverider to be on the ocean floor somewhere within the target area and Mr. Queen would have the pull to arrange to borrow a submarine from ARGUS to investigate."</p><p>"I don't suppose this would be a case of the more the merrier?" Hartley asked.  "I feel like I owe you for helping out last night, Rip, and... if you're going to be retrieving your teammates across time and space, I could probably be pretty useful to you."</p><p>"I want to go in the time ship too," Cisco muttered.</p><p>Caitlin poked him in the shoulder, hard.  "You're staying right here, mister."</p><p>Rip's gaze was warm as he told Hartley, "it would be my pleasure to have you aboard."</p><p>Hartley tried to tell himself the innuendo was just a coincidence, but his cheeks blushed brightly anyway.</p>
<hr/><p>Rip winds up borrowing clothes left behind by someone called Harry while Hartley gets permission to have his tiny home moved to the STAR Labs garage for a while and then heads back to his apartment to pack.  It's pretty much the first time he's really been apart from Hartley since waking up with temporary amnesia and he'll admit to being a tiny bit disconcerted by his absence.  Apparently Rip is no longer good at being alone.  And while Team Flash is nice enough, Rip can't really say he feels a connection to them the way he does the slightly prickly and very sarcastic Pied Piper.</p><p>He meant what he'd said when Hartley volunteered himself; it would be a pleasure to have him aboard the Waverider.</p><p>Barry took care of booking them a room to share in Star City and train tickets which meant Rip was sitting around with nothing to do for far longer than he liked.  </p><p>Hartley came back and passed off the keys to his tiny home and apartment to Cisco - "The moving service should have the tiny home parked here sometime this weekend on Saturday, feel free to use it if you want to while I'm gone.  It's nice for short camping trips or housing visitors from parallel realities.  My apartment's rent is paid up for the next four months.  If I'm not back in three, would you please put my stuff in storage?  I promise I'll pay you back." - before joining Rip and asking questions about how time travel worked.</p><p>And Hartley's mind was really quite brilliant.  If he hadn't been integral to the Flash surviving a Time Wraith a few months ago and a key part in the development of the sonic technology meant to subdue Zoom's army... well, Rip might've considered him when he'd been putting his crew together earlier that year.  Though perhaps it was for the best it worked out this way.  Rip couldn't imagine he'd have reacted well to finding Hartley attractive while he was still... in denial about the permanency of Miranda's death.</p><p>He'd always love Miranda.  But she wouldn't want him to mourn her alone forever.  It was too soon to know if Hartley was the right person to move on with, but... Rip would never know if he didn't take the chance to get to know him. </p><p>So Rip got some draft paper out and gave a sort of... time travel one-oh-one lecture, which Cisco, Barry, and Caitlin ended up sitting in on too.  Cisco took notes and Caitlin had to remind him twice that he wasn't allowed to go gallivanting off in a time ship.  ("Staying here," she commanded, poking his shoulder repeatedly.  Cisco just gave a long-winded, disappointed sigh and nodded.)  It was kind of fun, passing on what he'd learned to others.  He'd felt that way about his lessons with Jax too.</p><p>It'd be nice if he could make the time to teach a little more often...</p>
<hr/><p>"You have no patience," Hartley remarked idly when Barry checked his watch again.</p><p>"It's just... I forgot how slow this train was."  The speedster fidgeted awkwardly.</p><p>"It's the fastest train in the country, you're just spoiled," Hartley countered.  "Besides, we're almost there."</p><p>"That's what you said an hour ago."</p><p>"Fifteen minutes ago," Rip corrected, exchanging an amused glance with Hartley.  "And we're literally about to pull into the station."</p><p>Barry groaned.  "At least I can run home afterwards."  He'd be back in Central in a matter of minutes that way.</p><p>The train announcer came over the intercom, interrupting any further teasing to let all the passengers know that they were pulling into Star City Station, it was now eight o'clock pm, and for those disembarking to do so in a timely and safe manner.  The three of them stood up to gather their bags from an overhead compartment and headed over to the doors to wait for the train to come to a complete stop so they could leave.</p><p>Barry's friend Nate was waiting for them outside and he hugged Barry enthusiastically.</p><p>"I haven't seen you since before the coma," Nate said.  "Sorry about that, by the way.  I know I should have visited, especially with all the metahuman activity but that's also kind of why I... didn't."</p><p>"Yeah, Central hasn't exactly been the safest place to be around, especially with Zoom this last year.  But things are pretty quiet right now.  If you wanted to visit after whatever it is you're here to get Oliver's help with, it'd be a good time to show you around."  Barry looked hopeful and Nate nodded enthusiastically.</p><p>"That'd be awesome.  Do you think I'd get to see the Flash?"</p><p>Hartley had to smother a snort of amusement.</p><p>"Oh, sorry.  I'm being rude," Barry said, changing the subject.  "Nate, this is Rip Hunter and Hartley Rathaway.  They came along with me since they need to talk with Oliver too.  Hartley, Rip, this is my friend Nate Heywood."</p><p>Polite handshakes quickly followed and Rip couldn't resist asking Nate about his JSA grandfather.</p><p>"Of course the JSA was real."  Rip rolled his eyes.  "It's ridiculous how there are more meta-humans these days than ever, but some people would rather stick their heads in the sand than admit there were metas in the 1940s too.  In fact, World War Two era science is what created the Mirakuru serum at the root of the rioting in this very city just a few years ago."</p><p>"I know, right?" Nate shook his head.  "It's amazing how some people just ignore the evidence in front of their very eyes, but then I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised given some people think global warming is a crackpot conspiracy."</p><p>"Is anyone else starving?" Barry asked.</p><p>"We did eat on the train..." Hartley smirked when Barry turned his puppy-dog-eyed stare on him.  "Sure.  Food.  Let's eat."</p><p>Nate laughed.  "The hotel has a good restaurant in it, so how about we get you guys checked in and then eat there.  My rental is this way."</p><p>They piled into Nate's car, checked into their room, and went upstairs long enough to drop their bags on the floor before heading back downstairs to the aforementioned restaurant.  It was entertaining listening to Barry and Nate play catch up and relate some of their weirder adventures in search of the inexplicable and unknown.  Hartley did get the impression that Nate had some kind of chronic condition, something Barry sort of alluded to once or twice and Nate talked around with the same sort of practiced ease that Hartley once used to pretend his hearing really was normal.</p><p>(Perhaps the most freeing thing about being disowned wasn't being able to be out and proud queer... but being able to be out and proud of his disability.  To stop acting like being hard of hearing was something to dance around and be ashamed of.)</p><p>When they head back up to their room, Nate starts telling them what he intended to tell Oliver Queen.  And it's... eerily familiar.  Barry, Hartley, and Rip all exchange looks and then, finally, Rip pulls out his map and unrolls it on the hotel coffee table.</p><p>"Where did you get this?" Nate demanded, staring at a far more accurate version of his own map.</p><p>"The ship you're looking for is called the Waverider.  It's a time ship.  My ship.  And I was on it, just moments before it sank."  Rip gave Nate a searching look.  "Mr. Heywood, I believe your research may hold the key to discovering the whereabouts of my missing crew."</p>
<hr/><p>"Not funny, man," Nate gave them reproving looks.</p><p>Barry stood up and flashed out of the room.  Came back a few moments later with cookies from... somewhere.  Rip decided not to ask and accepted the raisin oatmeal cookie.</p><p>Nate stared.</p><p>"I did tell you I had news I could only give you if we met in person," Barry pointed out.  "I mean... I did say that after waking up from my coma and never really insisted and I'm sorry.  I probably should have just run over to see you myself.  But it's been a really busy couple of years."</p><p>Nate continued to stare.</p><p>"Eat your cookie," Hartley commanded haughtily and Nate obeyed.</p><p>"You're the Flash," Nate finally said.  Voice faint.</p><p>"Yeah.  Surprise?"  Barry looked extremely worried.</p><p>Leaning back in his chair, Nate shook his head slowly.  "The evidence was there.  You woke up from your coma right before the first reports about the Streak.  You didn't need any recovery time before going back to work.  All of the fucking speed puns."</p><p>Rip snorted softly while Hartley burst out laughing.</p><p>"I'm holding this over your head for, like, forever," Nate paused a beat, then added, "but you brought me a cookie so I guess I can forgive you."  And he grinned while Barry visibly relaxed.  "Okay... so... time travel is really real and I was right about your ship?" Nate asked Rip.</p><p>Rip nodded.  "Any information you can share that will help me locate my missing crew across history would be greatly appreciated."</p><p>"Alright, well, I'm going to grab a few things from my room.  But I'll be right back.  First thing to look at, though, are some really weird things I've found in the fossil records."  Nate bounced out of his seat excitedly and headed out of the room.</p><p>"He'd get along really well with Cisco," Hartley observed.  "But I get the impression you want to steal him for at least however long it takes to find the rest of the Legends?"</p><p>"He'd be an excellent asset," Rip agreed absently.  "I never really had the patience for the amount of tedious research that goes into manually identifying aberrations in the timeline.  That Mr. Heywood has identified at least one, if not more, confirmed aberrations is really quite impressive.  Assuming Gideon is running again, the two of them should be able to more quickly identify the aberrations that are caused by my missing crew and not, say, time pirates."</p><p>"I'm probably going to hate time pirates in practice, but the fact that they exist is kind of awesome."  Hartley shrugged when Rip raised an eyebrow at him. </p><p>That was when Nate came back into the room and, excited to have an audience that wouldn't treat him like he was crazy, began to lay out the information he had regarding a potential time aberration in the prehistoric times.</p>
<hr/><p>Oliver Queen arrived in time for breakfast and frowned when he heard Rip's name.  "Aren't you the guy who recruited Sara and Ray for some mission to fight Vandal Savage in January?"</p><p>Rip nodded gravely.  "And now I must ask for your help in saving them."  </p><p>Hartley listened with half an ear while Rip explained the circumstances that led to the Legends being separated.  1940s nearly disrupted by an out of place nuclear warhead which they were fortunate enough to be able to divert... but not so fortunate that the Waverider wasn't badly damaged in the process and they were forced to abandon ship.  Hartley was more interested in listening to the woman in Oliver's ear piece flip out because time travel was so cool</p><p>"You know," Hartley drawled, "you could just ask Felicity to join us, Ollie."</p><p>"I hate it when you do that," Oliver muttered, but Felicity was already agreeing and on her way over.  So they'd better save her a croissant.  "And don't call me Ollie."</p><p>Hartley just fluttered his lashes at Oliver mockingly.  He'd been contractually obligated to annoy Oliver as much as possible since they were children and he entered a verbal agreement with Thea to cause her older brother problems on purpose.</p><p>"So you need me to borrow an ARGUS submarine to take you to your time ship," Oliver said, opting to ignore Hartley and return his attention to Rip.  "Which is the same thing you've been annoying my secretary about for the last two weeks," he added to Nate.</p><p>"Weirdly, yes."</p><p>"And somehow of course Barry is in the middle of all this."  Oliver closed his eyes and massaged the bridge of his nose.</p><p>"Why does he say that like it's a bad thing?" Barry asked in an aside to Nate, who just shrugged.</p><p>"Trouble magnet," Hartley agreed.</p><p>"Like you're one to talk," Barry pouted.</p><p>"You could have asked ARGUS yourself, Barry," Oliver interrupted.  "What do you need me to be the go between for?"</p><p>"Lyla doesn't believe I essentially fed Zoom to Time Wraiths and she's refusing to talk to me until I tell her what really happened," Barry muttered.</p><p>"And since he did basically feed Zoom to the Time Wraiths and Barry refuses to come up with a more plausible lie, you are in fact ARGUS' favorite right now," Hartley filled in.</p><p>"What's a Time Wraith?" Nate asked.</p><p>"Zombie speedster," Barry admitted at the same time Hartley said, "real world Dementor."</p><p>"I never want to find out," Oliver grumbled.</p><p>"You've actually seen one," Rip sounded interested.  "I must admit, I was never sure if they were just boogeymen the more experience Time Masters had made up to frighten the trainees."</p><p>"Oh, they're real.  They're freaky and they're real," Hartley shuddered.</p><p>Felicity appeared in the doorway to the cafe they were in and joined them at the table, stealing Oliver's croissant and swatting him on the shoulder with her other hand.  "I told you there was no reason for me to stay in the car."</p><p>"He wanted a quick getaway because of Nate, didn't he?" Hartley asked.</p><p>"Yeah.  I mean, he trusts Barry not to waste his time, but..." she shrugged and offered Nate a conciliatory look.  "Sorry."</p><p>"I know I kind of come as the eccentric professor type," Nate said with a shrug of his own.  "Don't worry about it.  I get it."</p><p>"I'll get the submarine, somehow.  But it might take a few days."</p>
<hr/><p>Barry headed back to Central City that evening, but Hartley and Rip extended their stay.  They'd be headed to New York soon, with any luck, and didn't want to risk being the cause of any delay.</p><p>Hartley, Rip had noticed, had toned down the flirting somewhat since Rip's... nightmare awakening the day before.  While he appreciated what he hoped was thoughtfulness towards Rip's grief on Hartley's part...</p><p>Rip thought perhaps now would be a good time to straighten a few details out.</p><p>"It's been nearly two years since my wife and son died," Rip said quietly.  "I was in denial about their deaths for a very long time.  Not that they were dead, but that their deaths were... fixed.  Permanent."  Rip poured himself a glass of water and settled on the couch he'd slept on the night before.  "I'm not sure I'll ever truly be over their loss.  And remembering it yesterday morning... took me back into the worst moments of my grief.  I wanted to thank you, Hartley, for calming me back down.  For reminding me to think of what it was that... gave me a reason to keep living, as you said."</p><p>"Your crew," Hartley guessed.</p><p>"My crew," Rip agreed.  "Which I'm hoping you'll agree to join.  Not just for the duration of locating those who are missing."</p><p>"Oh.  I... that's..."</p><p>"You don't have to answer now.  Take all the time you need to decide this."  Rip drained the water from his glass and set it aside, reaching up to draw Hartley down to sit with him.  Delicately, he traced his fingers along the curve of Hartley's jaw and then cupped the younger man's face.  Daringly dragged a thumb over Hartley's lower lip and felt warm satisfaction at the way Hartley whined and leaned into the touch.  "I'd also like to explore the attraction between us.  If you're interested."</p><p>"I'm interested," Hartley told him, reaching up to press a hand against the back of Rip's neck.  To pull him down into a kiss.  </p><p>Interested indeed.</p>
<hr/><p>The submarine is cramped with four people - the ARGUS sub was a small exploratory vessel.  Relatively shallow waters only.  It was so noisy in the water, though, and Hartley had to turn off his hearing aids and let the world become a wash of sound.  Better a painful white noise than listening to shushing of the water as they dove deeper and the swishing of every fish for miles.  Rip knew sign language, so it wasn't as though Hartley had completely cut himself off from the rest of their four man band.</p><p>Still, it was a relief when they located the Waverider - Hartley saw the elation on Rip's face and knew even before the other man turned to sign their success - and were able to board the powered down ship.  The walls of the ship were made of thicker material than the sub and did a far better job of insulating him from the obnoxious sounds of the ocean.  He was able to return his hearing his preferred levels and follow Rip to the bridge.</p><p>"Initiating restart sequence," Rip warned, fingers dancing along the room's central console.</p><p>Better than the TARDIS, Hartley decided, grinning as he looked around.  This was real, after all.  Real life time travel.</p><p>"Captain Hunter," greeted a woman's voice from the ship's speakers.  "welcome back.  Systems are coming back online."</p><p>"Gideon, it's good to hear your voice again," Rip replied warmly.  "I'd like to introduce you to Hartley Rathaway, Nate Heywood, and Oliver Queen."  They all chorused that it was nice to meet her and Hartley, for one, was excited to get to know her.  He didn't get to see the Gideon in STAR Labs much and he was absolutely fascinated by the existence of the AIs.  "Mr. Queen was kind enough to help me to return to you and Hartley and Mr. Heywood will be assisting us in our retrieval of our missing crew.  Speaking of the crew, what's Mr. Rory's current status?"</p><p>"He's been physically healed of his injuries and was protected by the stasis field from the radiation from the nuclear weapon we diverted.  There was some minor damage to my memory systems from the electrical discharge created by the blast, but all systems have since been repaired while the Waverider was in standby mode.  All radiation was cleared from the ship by 1958."</p><p>"I'm sorry it took so long for me to return to you Gideon, though from my point of view it's only been a few days.  I was fortunate enough to land in Central City, where Hartley found me."  Rip informed her.</p><p>"Thank you for looking after him, I know Captain Hunter has something of a penchant for getting himself into trouble," Gideon said.</p><p>"I've been happy to help out."  Hartley grinned when Rip pouted at Gideon's words, annoyed at being called out by his friend.  "He helped me with a contact of mine whose daughter was kidnapped, so not all the trouble has been his."</p><p>"I should go wake Mr. Rory," Rip decided, blushing minutely at the praise.</p><p>Hartley trailed along behind him with Nate while Oliver stayed on the bridge.  Mick Rory looked much the same as Hartley remembered and held in a stasis field that had held him immobile and unchanging since the forties.  So weird to think that at the same time he'd been menacing Cisco and Barry, he'd also been essentially sleeping here, trapped in time.</p><p>Rip disabled the stasis field and Mick woke up swearing.  And then he jumped out of the chair and punched Rip on the face.</p><p>Hartley raised a hand to hold off Nate, lazily leaning against the open doorway and raising an eyebrow.  "Rip?"</p><p>"I might have deserved that," Rip admitted.</p><p>Mick snorted.  "Might've," he scoffed.  Then, he eyed him.  "Don't look that different.  How long was I in stasis?"</p><p>"We're back at what you would consider the present.  For me it's only been a few days.  I was fortunate with the time period with which I arrived."  Rip let Gideon heal the bruise on his face.</p><p>"How'd you get off the ship?" Mick was frowning now.  "Emergency time shifts would've been offline."</p><p>"I used the Time Drive," Rip admitted ruefully.</p><p>Mick stared at him for a long moment, clearly shocked.  Then... "you're fucking nuts.  Damn lucky you're still you and not some hippy in the sixties."</p><p>Rip just shrugged.  "Like I said.  I was very fortunate with my arrival."</p><p>"One of the apartments nearby was playing <em>It's Raining Men</em> when he showed up.  Loudest thing I could hear."  Hartley grinned as the tone of the room diffused a little, though he filed away the concern that Rip had a tendency to use the riskier options on himself.</p><p>Mick laughed.  "You're one of the Flash's friends aren't you.  Look familiar."</p><p>"Hartley Rathaway, also known as the Pied Piper."  His grin becomes a smirk when Nate looks startled.  Hadn't mentioned that little tidbit before and Hartley's enough of a troll to enjoy Nate's shocked stare.</p><p>"Sonic tech," Mick said, nodding as recognition set in.  "Len wanted to lure you to the rogues."</p><p>"He'd have succeeded, no doubt.  I'm something of a thief myself, which annoys the Flash to no end."  Though Cisco seemed pretty cool with it, which was why Hartley had left him in charge of the stolen documents.  Hartley'd dropped off the stolen money as an anonymous donation at Freespace before leaving Central.</p><p>"And you, Pretty?"</p><p>"What, am I not pretty?" Hartley grumbled, earning a startled laugh from Nate.</p><p>"You're already Piper, don't need another nickname."  Mick tilted his head to stare at Nate.  "Well?"</p><p>"Nate Heywood.  Historian.  I might be able to help pinpoint the, uh, time aberrations where the rest of the crew can be found."  Nate sounded a bit lost.  "Still getting used to the jargon."</p><p>"You'll do alright," Mick told him, which perked Nate back up.  Though Hartley had no doubt Mick would deny it loudly and at length were he asked if that were his intent.</p>
<hr/><p>Queen is more than happy to get out of there once Rip confirms that the Waverider is fully functional and ready to return to the time stream.  He makes Rip promise to bring Ray and Sara by to see him once they're safe and then he boards the ARGUS sub again and heads for the surface.</p><p>Nate seems uncertain, like he's not sure he quite belongs yet.  But Hartley looks pleased to be there and Mick is accepting enough of both newcomers for now.  </p><p>Rip sets Nate up in his office so he can spread out all his research and then has Gideon scan to pinpoint the most likely temporal location of the prehistoric aberration Nate had already identified.</p><p>"I have locked in the coordinates, Captain," Gideon told him.  "Once everyone is seated and belted in, I will activate the transport sequence."</p><p>"There are a number of potential side effects to time travel," Rip warned.  "But those tend to subside over time.  Nausea, aphasia, dizziness, to name a few."  Rip settled in his chair and waited for the other three to follow suit, securing themselves safely.  "Are we all ready?"  They each responded affirmatively in their own way and Rip felt a sense of relief.  There was no telling who they'd find once they made the jump.  Could be a missing member of the crew.  Could be time pirates or a fellow former Time Master with a grudge.</p><p>Could be anything or anyone.</p><p>Rip couldn't wait to find out.</p>
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